Earthquake Sky

October 2018 through November 2020

Pitch

An experimental art piece representing a map of all earthquakes around Aotearoa like a star atlas.

The substrate is an A0 piece of white cardboard/foamboard. On it I’m placing hundreds of dots of varying sizes using clear nail polish, in the rough locations of all earthquakes since 1900 (as much data as is available) in the land and sea around Aotearoa. Once done, I will splash blue inks over the board, then wash lightly. The result should be that where the polish is, the ink slides off, resulting in a dark blue background with white dots peeking out. Ultimately, this is expected to be an experience both near and afar, with the polish providing a tactile feel.

Media

Outcome

Mostly abandoned in its current form, especially since the Gisborne and Kermadec quakes in 2021, which rewrote the map.

I made an ink-based test print in November 2020, which also highlighted I could be doing this in much better quality… something to think about.